TGT1

Does anybody have a theory?


It's a spatial awareness thing.

I'm convinced at least 30% of the population doesn't have any.

They quite literally don't have any idea where the right side of their vehicle is.

Then you have what's even worse, those that don't know where the left side is and try to drive in the gutter to compensate.

Darth Lefty 

Two carriages, then. I'm in the West where the infrastructure was built out with cars in mind.

TrikeRider1961

Every other thread and post I've ever seen regarding cars passing bikes, are regarding complaints about cagers failing to yield far enough over or failing to wait to safely pass. Now this thread sounds as if the majority of posters want to complain about motorists being too cautious and courteous.
Every one has the right to their opinion, but personally I am incredulous that this would be a source of contention. All aspects have to be considered to insure roadway safety, but I've never been frustrated by any driver who safely crossed into another lane or waited to provide me additional clearance.
I wish the OP continued good luck in encountering those courteous types of drivers.

thank you

auldgeunquers

This is true.

Mark Stone

I think if you'll read the responses in this thread more carefully, they are concerned that swerving too far to the left is dangerous because of the possibility of head-on collisions.

bubbagrannygear

Fair enough. Taking an internet broadsword to those always competent and considerate drivers with whom we share the road will only serve to bring back bad memories, elevate stress hormones, and still leave us no closer to solving the mystery of the too much room phenomenon. On then, to a more constructive enterprise - the development of the theory: How hot was it ? How often do your bathe?

TrikeRider1961

That is why I addressed "roadway safety" because every action must be balanced. As a rider I appreciate all drivers who safely pass me while providing me half a lane clearance. As a driver I only pass when it is safe and when the cyclist is in another lane or I can safely cross into an on-coming lane. BTW I counted three posts where "blind" passing was addressed.

Papa Tom

If I might interject (I am the OP, after all), "safely passing" is one thing -- and it's surely appreciated. What I am describing is a gross misjudgement by driver after driver that would be absolutely hilarious if it weren't so potentially dangerous to me and to the drivers themselves.

I'm not asking cars to pass me close enough to graze my elbows. I'm just amused and alarmed at how far into the opposing lane so many drivers think they have to veer to avoid doing so.

Mr. Hairy Legs

The situation described by the OP happens to me quite often on certain roads. I think the problem is not so much one of spatial awareness but of misjudging the distance required to pass a cyclist doing, say, 30 km/h in a 60 zone. (Maybe that's still considered 'spatial awareness'?). They give lots of space, either out of courtesy or fear, but then they are unable to move back into the original position in advance of oncoming traffic because they were considering the cyclist to be an inanimate object. Personally I'd much rather take a close pass than witness a head-on collision right in front of me.

billyymc

Exactly. I see it frequently. Drivers pull completely or almost completely into the oncoming lane to pass me and seem to ignore an oncoming car that has to get onto the shoulder and slow down to avoid being hit.

The number one thing I wish drivers would do when the pass me is just slow down a tiny bit. My regular commute is on a road with a 55 mph speed limit most of the way - so cars are going anywhere from 55 to 65 usually. There is a decent shoulder most of the way, so I'm usually a foot to three feet off the driving lane. If drivers would just ease off the accelerator and slow down to 45 - 50 mph it would feel safer for everyone.

I've driven the same route - what feels like a nice wide shoulder when I'm riding doesn't seem that big when I'm driving.

JohnJ80

I think this is the cause.

On a road with no shoulder but about a foot to the right of the white line. If I ride on the line or to the right of it (ie. no safety margin), cars will come very close to me. If I ride to the left of the white line, then they go way wide around me. If they see me on one side or the other of the visual reference (white line), it causes them to have vastly different behavior even though my position is only about 12" different.

J.

Shimagnolo

I recall reading about that phenomenon before. It seems where there is a visible line separating the motor lane from the bike lane, drivers seem to think they are entitled to the entire motor lane, regardless of how close it brings them to the bikes.

TaylorC

Around here it's the law to give 3'. If bikes have less than 3' of shoulder they are allowed to take the lane.

LokiWolflord

My ride to work occurs in the early morning, while it's still dark. I have plenty of lights on my bike and aside from two blocks just outside my house, I have a bike lane. Almost daily on one section of my ride I will have someone flash their brights at me as if I am impeding their progress. I am in the bike lane and the cars have two lanes on a practically empty street.

I don't usually have cars giving me too much clearance. There have only been a few times where I've felt that a driver was crowding me. The most memorable of which happened two weeks ago when a car almost clipped me when it veered into the bike lane. The car drifted left after almost hitting me then, drifted right back into the bike lane. I caught up with the car at the red light and saw that the lady driving the car had a cell phone plastered to the side of her face. I rapped on the passenger side window, at which point, she looked over at me with an outraged expression. I gave her the "hang up the phone" gesture. She looked back out her windshield, still with the phone up to her ear and refused to look back over when I knocked again. When the light turned green she managed to get across the intersection before swerving back into the bike lane.

That lady was really the exception to the norm in SoCal by the coast, though. Most drivers around here are really sensible, they'll change lanes to the left if possible to pass. They might put a tire over the double yellow out in front of my house when they are passing me, but that is at 4:15 in the AM so, the oncoming lane is clear.

achoo

More likely they're flashing their lights at you to warn you they're coming up on you.

Yeah, as if the normal lights themselves didn't give away their presence. But they don't ride a bike at night so they have no idea what to do about you.

As far as the phone-addled dumbass? Next time, be nice enough to get her to roll down the window, then shout "Get off the phone while you're driving before you hit someone when you run off the road again!" loud enough for the person on the other end of the phone to hear.

Now she got some 'splainin' to do.

landdnl

This definitely needs to be addressed in a thread by itself. I think I'll start one now.

Clyde1820

Meant cars, in that statement. And around here it supports a car in a lane fine. It just doesn't generally support two cars in the width of one lane. If the roadways in your region were built out "maxi" size, consider yourself lucky.

Darth Lefty 

I feel that you're zeroing in on the wrong part of my statement. Drivers swerve left because they want to miss you by the same distance they miss anything else. I'm sure that distance can vary by location, speed, and conditions.

fietsbob

Theory , take Data.. why not ask the Drivers Directly?. do a 'Man on the Street' Survey .. of interviews in the parking lots of a bunch of stores

qtoffer

I agree. Many people simply have no idea where their car ends and the surrounding world begins. Look at how some people park!

Papa Tom

That's an awesome idea and I think I'm going to do it!

TGT1

Then there are the 10% that are on the phone.

those are the ones that really worry me!

ELIZABETH, Colo. — A woman says she was texting and driving when she hit a pole that went through her car, piercing her thigh and buttocks.

Elizabeth firefighters had to saw off the front and back end of the pole to get the woman out.

Christina Jahnz says she was in the parking lot of Elizabeth Middle School on Wednesday morning to deliver her daughter's saxophone, which had been left at home. As she was driving away from the school, Jahnz started texting her friend.

"I was running late for a business meeting, so I did a voice text. I looked down to make sure it was all right. The next thing I knew, I was looking up, there was white powder from the air bags deployed," Jahnz said.

Texting while driving, woman impaled through buttocks

At least it wasn't someones handlebars.

Papa Tom

>>>>Then there are the 10% that are on the phone.<<<<<

Let's not go there 'cuz it makes my blood pressure soar!

Greg M

So just the other day someone buzzed me with less than 12 inches
When I caught him at thenext light and pointed out the 3 foot law and the
30 mph speed limit he was exceeding by at least 15 mph, he called me a
*** and ****.from his chevy denali. I asked him if he would feel the same
if I was driving my international truck with my all my welding gear, really?!!!!!

TransitBiker

People can barely remember where they are parked, why do you think they would know where their car is when they are in it?

People seem to think they are entitled to use their road however they see fit, and forget that roads are a general use public domain with maximum speeds, not suggested speeds, and stop signs, not slow signs.

Wait, that's impinging on your FREEDOM!

Railroad tracks are, in most cases, the same width rail to rail as wooden wheeled carriages/wagons. In many places, railcars are indeed still referred to as a wagon or carriage. Lorries on the other hand were more like today's delivery vans, and that is why the name stuck to modern day cargo trucks & vans in many places.

It is 4 in pennsylvana. This is partially due to a combined concern for roads with collapsing shoulders (or none at all still collapsing), people with trailers, and 4 feet seems to be enough to not kill someone that may fall due to a mechanical issue or hitting something.

I feel that the butthurt/irate motorists that do not realize that bicycles are indeed a reliable and legitimate mode of transport being mad at bike-ists that run reds and fail to follow traffic safety laws are despised equally by the majority of cyclists, from utility/delivery types, to commuters, to those doing it purely for sport/fitness. They say cyclists should pay for inspection, license, registration. This shows that many fail too, to see the difference between a motorist and a vehicle operator and the use of a public right of way for transport vs use of a motor vehicle. Not all ships are yachts, but all yachts are ships kind of thing. I try to remind these people that no one forced them to buy a car, or vote for people that put in place unsustainable policies.



- Andy